Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Vetr from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm presently has a $32.18 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Vetr‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 21.70% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on MS. Barclays PLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, July 9th. RBC Capital Markets set a $32.00 target price on Morgan Stanley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, July 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $46.00 target price on Morgan Stanley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.59.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) traded up 0.15% on Wednesday, reaching $41.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,027,471 shares. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.22 and its 200-day moving average is $30.29. The stock has a market cap of $76.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 1.87. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $21.16 and a 52-week high of $41.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.17 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post $2.71 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Paul C. Wirth sold 18,929 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.70, for a total transaction of $600,049.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,205,211.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 60,119 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.56, for a total value of $2,258,069.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 262,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,870,167.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 4,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. First Manhattan Co. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the third quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 4,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the first quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 85.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a financial holding company. The Company is a global financial services firm that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, advises, and originates, trades, manages and distributes capital for, governments, institutions and individuals. Its segments include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.